Trapped! In a game! Help!

[Yevin]

~*~

The sound of birds twittering and leaves rustling on a breeze slowly roused the teen. He blinked rapidly and brought a hand up to block the harsh sun suddenly blaring down on him. Brown eyes squinted as they adjusted to the new light, and the teen shifted on his seat. Turned out, that was a bad idea.

With a loud squawk, Val tumbled out of a tree, smashing into every branch by gravity’s pull. He bounced with a grunt on a slanted pebbled bank and rolled down into the shallows of a sparkling river, soaking his clothes.

Groaning, the new gamer pushed himself onto his feet in the happy water. He already felt huge bruises forming everywhere. He brushed his wet bangs aside, and then paused.

Something was wrong.

Val stared down at his arm incased in creamy cloth strapped by leather bracers.

What the hell was going on? What was this?

He checked himself out. A weaved leather cuirass hugged his torso and shoulders. His other arm matched its twin. Dark leggings stretched down his waist into knee-less greaves strapped over ankle boots.

What the hell was going on?

Val sloshed out of the river to the bank and took a good look at the surroundings. It was all bright green, yet with an ominous feel to it. Nothing was familiar.

Where the hell was he?

Hello! Welcome Val!

A computerized voice echoed sharply in his ears. Val cringed with a startled cry and covered his throbbing head, but the unknown voice pushed on unaware.

Welcome to the game, Val! There are a few rules to go over before you begin…

The game? Val glanced around again while the voice rambled on. What it said irked him. Not only that, but there was no visible source of the voice! And how the hell did it know his name?!

Phew! Now that we have that out of the way, let’s start! In the beginning, new players like you receive a basic quest.

A sudden ping sounded in his head.

It’s activated now. The start of your quest is at the tavern. Follow the Arrow, and Good Luck!

It disappeared, leaving Val quite disturbed and lost.

I’m…in a game? The thought echoed in his head over and over again. Several minutes passed for him to vaguely accept the fact he wasn’t where he was supposed to be, and that he should play along for a short while.

What do I do now? It said follow the arrow? What arrow? Val looked about him, scanning the ground for a wooden shaft and metal tip. Nothing. He sighed heavily and glanced up to the horizon in an annoyed fashion. A silver arrowhead flashed in the distance.

Oh.

Val moved further upstream past the trees to get a better view. It pointed down at a building. A building that… graced the very top of a… mountain.

You gotta be kidding me. There? Val stared doubtfully at the scenery. But the arrow didn’t move to some other, closer location. He surrendered and dejectedly began the trek with squelching shoes through the hills to the Tavern. Maybe there was a way out of the game. Maybe he could go home.

[Draconilian]

"Awww bugger, WHAT did I have to drink lassst night..." Xander could feel he was lying face down on something soft. he assumed it was his bed, and his head was hurting, after a moment to summon the effort, he pulled himself up slightly and blinked.

That was no bed, it's snow! he took some in his hand and noticed quite a few shocking details.

For one, he was down a finger, for two, he was covered in green scales, and finally, he had some wicked looking talons on the end of his hand! "What a dream..." He stood all the way up to meet a few more surprises.

His legs were different, he couldn't stand flat on his feet, he had to push forward and lean on his toes, also decorated with some nice claws. They gripped the ground well at least. Looking down he saw his whole body covered in similar scales to his arms. At that moment another three things came to his attention.

two wings and a tail. The three new appendages responded to his movements as easily as anything else on his body, experimentally he opened them to full length and flapped. He lifted slightly off the ground, though not much. He figured he work flight out after he knew what else was going on.

It occurred to him that there were yet further things he hadn't noticed, the two back-curving horns for one, or the fact he now had a snout, filled with quite sharp teeth and a forked tongue. Not remembering the rhetorical statements he made earlier, he tried to speak. All words came normally, unless there was a sibilant involved. In which case he reflexively hissed. "At leassst I can mossstly underssstand what I'm sssaying..." he mused.

His attention turned to his surroundings, realizing he was standing in snow, as a cold blooded reptile, brought a quizzical thought to his mind. He certainly didn't FEEL cold. It finally occurred to him that he was a Dragon, just like in medieval stories, and that most likely whatever internal fire he had kept his body temperature regulated perfectly. (pretty cool! or rather, hot, heheh) he thought to himself.

He glanced around, and finally realized where exactly he was, on top of a mountain, overlooking a massive valley. "Fantassstic! I gotta learn to fly to get off of here..." he said out loud, with a definite hint of sarcasm. Looking around the mountain and in the snow, he noticed a brown mass a bit off to his left. The young Dragon walked towards it for a better look.

Leather armor, and a backpack. Picking up the backpack first, he rummaged through it's contents, finding nothing but a particularly large scroll. Taking care not to rip it with his claws, he unrolled it and examined the paper.

No words, it was blank. But, right before Xander folded it back up, a few words appeared, then some more, and finally it was a massive document. Conveniently, filled with answers.

The Dragon skimmed down the paper, taking note of everything. The basics of the paper were thus.

"This is not a Dream, you are indeed physically in a different world, check it out yourself if you feel like it, pain is real here. Yes, you have taken a totally different form, and you may take some time to get used to it, Flight should come easily though. It is recommended for newcomers to head to the closest tavern and get some experience what this world contains. Good Luck.

P.S. why not test your fire on this paper? it's no good for anything else."

Xander was a tad confused, but if this wasn't a dream... huh. Either way he discovered breathing fire was pretty easy, just a small wisp of it ignited the paper, which he threw into the snow and watched it curl and blacken while the snow melted around it. Once the scroll was no more, he turned his attention back to the armor.

He didn't know if it was convenient for him or nearly useless, the armor only protected a few areas, and seemed disturbingly lacking in metal. Light armor. After he finished with his equipment, he found it only covered his shoulder joints, parts of his chest, his wrists, and little else. "What, no weapon?" he asked to nobody in particular. He moved his arms and wings, to find that he had full range of motion, and that it didn't slow him down at all.

Deciding to finally try flight, he got down on all fours, and pushed hard off the snow instinctively, giving him a pretty good launch. His wings reflexively opened and he took a little while just gliding to figure things out. Before long, he had the hang of things, but realized he felt like he was about to fall unconscious.

Xander glided down to the ground, off of the mountain he began on, and landed in a valley. He looked around, noticing more than a few animals running for their lives. (heh, guess I'm pretty scary) and took stock of his location again. He saw a pretty large hill, not as large as the mountain behind him, but certainly large. With a town on top, and smoke rising. "guessss I'll find a tavern there..." and began his trek forward on the ground.

[ImDizzy]

A cold breeze brought Lance to half-wakefulness. His thoughts were muddled from sleep and an odd throbbing, but he found that odd since he was sure his window was closed. He stirred again as he attempted to clear the veil over his consciousness. Come to think of it... his bed felt a lot more hard and rocky than usual. The sounds around him seemed a bit odd also. Was that a creek? His mind slowly came to a conclusion that caused him to bolt upright... which proved to be a bad decision.

His sudden movement dislodged him from a ledge that he had been resting on and caused him to begin to skid down a rocky slope. He winced as rocks dug into his back as his slid down and tried to at least get up on his feet somewhat. Lance managed to do this and slid down the hill sitting down. Although, after a few seconds, he noticed the sudden drop at the end of the slope into the creek that he had heard earlier. As he neared the drop, he jumped off the slope to attempt to get over the several feet gap. He surprised himself by jumping a lot farther than he thought he would and almost fell into a crash landing, but he managed to land perfectly in a crouch which surprised him again. He was pretty good at feats of dexterity like that, but he was nowhere near what he just did.

He stood up and reached a height that was several inches taller than he was used to. Lance quickly took a fast look at his body and found that his limbs were leaner and his body graceful looking than the one he was used to. His usually pale, freckled skin was almost flawless and almost glowed with an odd sheen. He examined his face and found that his nose was thinner and longer and that his cheekbones were a lot more angular. He put his hands to his ears and found that they reached points. "What the hell?" he exclaimed loudly before clasping his hands to his mouth. His voice almost sounded musical despite the content, there was a sort of lilt to it that was very odd sounding.

Then Lance noticed something else, his senses seemed a lot better than his old ones. He could hear things he probably shouldn't, like the grass rustling quietly in the wind. His sense of smell picked up things that he normally wouldn't and his vision was much sharper than usual. Which was a huge difference considering that he had to wear high strength contacts to function. He glanced at a tree in the distance and swore he could almost count the leaves. The inflow of information began to be too much and he clasped his hands to his head as the throbbing got worse. He opened one of his eyes and saw a wooden sign with black writing on it. 'If you don't focus on it so much, it won't be so overwhelming. The change is a bit disorienting, but you'll get used to it.'

He cursed loudly before he found that the sign's advice was sound. He thought about other things and the overwhelming senses died down to somewhat normal levels. "Besides the whole having no idea where I am and the weird sense thing, this is pretty sweet...," Lance muttered to himself. He looked around and found that he was at the base of a rocky hill and at the edge of a forest. The creek ran behind him in its ravine and made burbling sounds as it traveled over rocks. He noticed more signs that were almost in a line and followed them to see what they said. 'Welcome to the game, Lance!' 'You have opted to skip the tutorial, so we'll go straight to the beginning quest!' 'The quest starts at a tavern nearby and if you just follow this arrow, you'll eventually find it.' The last sign had an arrow pointing down the river toward somewhere. So Lance followed it, it wasn't like he had anything better to do even though he felt like he should be weirded out by it, he wasn't for some odd reason.

He eventually got to a place where the trees from the forest didn't block his view of what was ahead of him and found the there was a building on the very top of a mountain ahead of him. "Is that the tavern? Are you kidding me?!?" he asked loudly. He used a few more choice expletives before he finally settled down to a quiet grumbling and began the hike toward the tavern. This would be interesting...

[AkiBlue]

Theo groaned slightly as he woke up. "Five more minutes...please?" He sat up a bit to find himself sliding down a bumpy surface. He yelped as it ended and he dropped into a bush. He rubbed his leg and looke up, a roof? "I don't remember sleeping on a roof...? What the hell?"
He wobbled and stood up looking down at himself. A ninja's outfit...what is going on??
All of a sudden there was a loud squealing in his head. Theo held his ears and fell to his knees. "What is that!?" He yelled aloud even though know one was around.

W-welcome! ---a game
Inside!

The squealing died off and Theo looked around hearing a clearer voice. We are sorry but it seems there is a technicality, but please continue your journey.
The poor boy was so confused. "Game? Inside?" The roof he fell of. That seemed to be the only building around so he slowly made his way to the door, having to walk around to the front.
(Haha, I was thinking he'd have that glitch through the entire game...)

[CloudyDreams]

"Mrghhhhhh." I must of fell asleep while reading.... she thought. Her tired eyes opened for a brief second then closed. The scent of fresh greens and earth hit her nose, and Melody rolled to her side. Instantly, something sharp stabbed her left arm. She jolted, eyes wide awake. "What the...." she murmured. Right in front of her was a prickly bush. Oh. She rolled back to the other side and closed her eyes again, breifly falling asleep for a moment. Wait. A bush? Melody jumped up to her feet, staring at the bush, then looked around. There was no sign of her small room or her books. Looking down she gasped at her clothes. What she thought was a black tank top and jeans changed to a nice-fitting black long-sleeved shirt with a weird design on it with ... a skirt. More than anything, she hated wearing skirts, they restricted her movement. Melody was about to curse out-loud, until something caught her voice. She felt odd, she couldn't explain this weird feeling, but she felt more connected to...something. Weird.

Welcome! Would you like to skip the tutorial? an unknown voice said.

Crossly, Melody shouted at the invisible person. "Yes. Now tell me where I am!"

You are inside _______ game! Since you have skipped the tutorial, please follow the silver arrow that will lead you to your first quest! Have an exciting game Priest!

A priest? You mean those followers who worship in a church? Confused, Melody looked around and soon enough she spotted a large flashing silver arrow. Shrugging, she followed it, her curiosity heightened with every step. Could she be in a dream? No, not possible. She felt wide awake, everything seemed so real. Her physical appearance wasn't change that much, expect for her clothes and her usual cursing. Suddenly, Melody stepped on the hem of her skirt and tripped. Groaning, she forced her self to get back up to her feet. The skirt was way too long for her liking, and her hands clutched the skirt, pulling it up slightly. After walking for a few minutes, she stopped at a hill, and spotted a tavern. The arrow seemed to be flashing towards it, and Melody supposed that was where her first quest was. She started to walk towards the tavern, then started to jog. Her heart pounded with anxiety. If this was a game, there were probably other people, and other people meant answers.

[Draconilian]

The green Dragon had been walking for what he estimated to be a few miles now, and had finally reached the base of the hill the town rested upon. Surprisingly, walking gave him no trouble despite having a totally different leg structure, he chalked it up along with flight to gaining muscle memory.

When he got to the hill he had to make a decision, either fly up, or walk around until he found a way to walk up, he chose the easier one. Just like before he crouched down and used his legs to launch, unfortunately he was going to have to gain height instead of just maintain it. After quite a few tries, he finally managed to climb to the necessary height and found what appeared to be a gate in the walls, guarded, heavily.

(aww crap, I probably look like their worst nightmare, how the hell am I supposed to get in?) he monologued, (well, best to try...) by now he was extremely tired and hungry, enough that the guards looked about as appetizing as a steak, or a or a sandwich, or a ham roast...

He took a few steps into view and was immediately harassed by spears. "great, jussst what I need..."

[AkiBlue]

Theo followed along the building toward the front entrance. He could hear the chatter an laughter of people inside. "Maybe they can help me..." He spoke and then heard a loud commotion and saw people with spears running past him as though he were invisible. Theo's curiosity got the best of him as he followed behind them quietly.
Why do they sound so scared? He ran further ahead and climbed up a tree to see what it was that was scaring them off. There it was, a dragon- or what appeared to be a dragon. His eyes widened. "This can't be real..." Even saying so, he knew it was all too real. Despite all the fear around him, he was entertained. People running away, some into the tavern and the now noted as guards held their spears in defense.
Theo's eyes then turned to an arrow blinking rapidly then slowly at the tavern. It would fade off and then reappear again. That must be a clue.... Theo jumped out of the tree and began walking to the tavern again, thankfully closer to the front.

[ImDizzy]

Lance grumbled to himself as he climbed up the slope toward the town. Why did they have to put it up there, it wasn't like it was convenient or anything... If he chose the location of the town, it would have been near the creek so they would be able to get water more easily. Having to fetch the water and return up the slope must be torture. Overall, the hike wasn't too difficult. Lance wasn't even breathing that hard when he finally reached the top of the slope. He straightened slightly from his slouched posture as he reached a point where he could see the town.

Lance paused for a moment as he tried to process the scene he saw at the entrance to the village. The world he was dumped in was a bit of a shock, but he hadn't blue screened until this point. What looked like a green bipedal dragon was being held at spearpoint by several guards blocking the way through the gate. Despite the dragon's monstrous size, he didn't look too threatening for some reason. Lance wasn't sure why he wasn't immediately put off by it, but it seemed like something needed to be done so he could progress. He sighed heavily. "Figures...," he muttered to himself as he headed toward the gate.

"Hey!" he called out as he got closer, "What's going on here?" Lance moved up beside the dragon thing as he addressed the guards. "You can't just judge people on appearance like that, that's... racist if that's still a thing here." Wow, nice job genius. he thought to himself before he continued. "Besides if he, I'm just going to assume you're a guy, wanted to destroy your village or whatever wouldn't he have torched it already? I mean, he could have just swooped in and lighted stuff up, you know? Take some virgins and all that. But he didn't which means he doesn't want to. Okay? Now run along and do something useful." He cursed under his breath as his impatience made itself known, hopefully the guards wouldn't mind it too much.

[Draconilian]

(aw, crap, what am I going to do now... I can probably break one of these if I...)

"Hey! You can't just judge people on appearance like that, that's... racist if that's still a thing here."

Xander's thoughts were interrupted by somebody trying to use... reasoning, (heh, like that's going to work...) he mused.

To the Dragon's surprise, the guards pulled back their spears and made way for him to walk into the city, though he still got the definite feeling he was going to be watched closely. He now finally got to appreciate his height, the guards barely came up to his chest, and he assumed that was with the armor. He took in this other new fact for a second and turned to face his supporter.

An elf, (seriously? what next, dwarves and goblins?) "Thanksss." he hissed, hopefully non-menacingly, last thing he wanted to do was get skewered "I assssume you're heading in too?"

[CloudyDreams]

Melody finally reached the base of the hill where the tavern was located, and by now she was angry at the world she was now in. A few ways off, she had tripped again, giving her a scrape on the knee. Melody's blonde curly hair was tied up in a high pony-tail, but without a comb and mirror, a few strands dangled out. Tghe silver arrow was flashing towards the tavern. I know where to go, so stop flashing you little... Again, her throat constricted and she shook her head, dumb-founded by her inability to curse.

Grumbling, she looked around for some people until a group of armored men ran past her. Curiously, she ventured around to see what appeared to be a half-dragon and another person. A group of men armed with spears seemed to glare at the half-dragon, but they still let him pass. Peering closer at the half-dragon her interest were piqued and traces of her bad mood disappeared. Is that a.... Next to the creature was a tall slim guy with pointy ears. Definitely an elf she thought. Melody had studied her fantasy books, dragons, elves, dwarves and goblins. She looked behind her and saw another figure. "Oh goody, people." She waited for the person to come more close, so she could talk to him..or her.